Skagit Valley Herald will be delivered every morning starting March 31

MOUNT VERNON — The publisher of the Skagit Valley Herald has announced that the newspaper will become a morning publication seven days a week beginning March 31.

The newspaper is currently delivered in the afternoon Mondays through Fridays, and in the morning on weekends and holidays. After the switch, subscribers will receive their newspapers in the morning every day of the week.

Publisher L. Stedem Wood said that the change should better position the Skagit Valley Herald, which is Skagit County’s only local daily newspaper, against competition from other morning newspapers circulated here, including dailies from Seattle and Everett.

“It puts us in a better place for the future,” he said. “It’s not reinventing yourself, but it ensures that you remain as much a part of this community as you have been in the past.”

The move mirrors an industrywide trend aimed in part at accommodating readers, who increasingly want their newspapers early in the day because it provides them with more time to read the newspaper.

A 2007 report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that the number of evening newspapers in daily circulation had fallen 40 percent between 1990 and 2005. Morning newspaper publications increased 46 percent during that same span.

The Skagit Valley Herald has remained an afternoon publication throughout its 124-year history. The newspaper is now one of the last remaining afternoon newspapers in the state, according to the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.

“It’s a compelling argument to provide a morning publication,” Wood said. “It’s just available earlier to readers. If they still want to read it in the afternoon, that’s fine.”

The change will have a slight impact on the newspaper’s content.

The newspaper currently features a limited number of breaking local news stories reported in the morning, right before the newspaper is printed, along with national and international wire reports from early in the day. Under the new publication schedule, the newspaper’s stories will be more current because of late-night coverage.

That may be a good thing, according to Skagit Valley Herald Editor Don Nelson, because right now, a majority of the paper’s local content is already determined the previous night. But those stories don’t reach most readers until the evening of the next day.

“The local news will be fresher,” Nelson said. “People will have it at 6 a.m., instead of 6 at night.”

Meanwhile, advertisers generally prefer a morning schedule because it’s consistent with other publications they advertise in.

Switching to a morning schedule does raise production costs. In addition, other newspapers have generally seen readership decline immediately following a switch to a morning publication schedule, Wood said, followed by a gradual recovery.

But Wood expects that the all-day availability of a morning publication should eventually increase readership, which is a coveted prospect in the industry these days.

Nationwide, newspaper circulation has fallen in recent years, and the Skagit Valley Herald hasn’t avoided the trend.

The newspaper’s weekday paid circulation stands at 17,413, and 18,680 on Sundays, according to Brian Naplachowski, the circulation director. Those figures are down from 1999, when the newspaper added a Sunday edition. Back then, circulation stood at 19,969 during the week, and 20,679 on Sunday.

Wood’s family has owned the Skagit Valley Publishing Co. since 1964. The company publishes the Skagit Valley Herald, along with weekly publications: the Anacortes American, the Argus in Burlington and the Courier-Times in Sedro-Woolley. It also operates a printing business and a specialty publications division.

The privately held company doesn’t disclose its financial statements, but Wood said revenues have grown consistently since his family purchased the company.

The new publication schedule won’t have a material impact on the company’s total number of employees, though many of the 150 or so workers will see significant changes to their work schedules.

“There will be a whole crew of people working hard while you’re asleep to ensure you have a paper,” Wood said.


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